By Tom Frary
Becoming the first of the TDN Rising Stars to emerge successful at Royal Ascot in 2022, Victorious Racing Limited's Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) conquered a host of talent to win the G2 Coventry S. and make Hollie Doyle Royal Ascot's most successful female rider on three successes. Keen initially from her draw in the centre, the Archie Watson-trained £47,000 Goffs UK Breeze-Up graduate ended up tracking the right rival in Royal Scotsman (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) to the two-furlong pole. Taking over soon after, the 8-1 shot forged away for a 1 1/2-length verdict over Persian Force (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), who stayed on to edge out Royal Scotsman for second by a neck. “He got squeezed coming out of the gates, which was frustrating, and to begin with I thought I was drawn on the wrong side but once I got into a handy position on the girths of them I knew the further I went the better I would go,” Doyle said. “Two furlongs down I was pretty confident, as they were all sitting ducks. His instant response surprised me, as in his gallops he is a little bit lazy, but he turns it on at the track. He hit the line hard and I struggled to pull him up after.”
In a Coventry that seemed stacked with even deeper promise than usual, Bradsell who had surged on to the scene with a nine-length success over this trip on good-to-soft at York May 21 was coming home clear-best with no excuses for the beaten fancied horses. Trainer Archie Watson is confident he can perform at the highest level now. “He is a very, very good horse,” he said. “I said to my fiancé Brodie last night that whatever wins this by daylight will be a superstar, so I am delighted it is us! Early on it looked like the near side was well ahead, I was a bit worried we were out on the wing with nothing to lead us there. I said to Hollie before to try and get them to take you as far forward in the race as you can before you press the button. She pushed it two down and it was plenty far enough to go!”
“He was bought by Tom Biggs [of Blandford Bloodstock]–he is the genius who bought him,” Watson added. “He has won the best group two, so he'll go to the Phoenix Stakes or the Prix Morny. If he is to run before, I should imagine it might be the [G2] Prix Robert Papin, but I am not sure he needs to do that.” Richard Hannon said of Persian Force, “He ran a super race, he just ran around a little bit. We came here to see if we had a very good horse, and we have, which is the main thing. There's a big difference between first and second, but he's still a champion in my eyes and it's up to the horse to prove that.” Oliver Cole said of Royal Scotsman, “He probably did a bit too much in front and we probably used the two lengths we were beaten by too early. He had too much daylight, basically.”
Bradsell's dam Russian Punch (GB) (Archipenko), who captured the Listed Radley S., also has a yearling colt by Ulysses (Ire). By Shadwell's first-season sire, he was watched by his breeder Deborah O'Brien who said, “Sadly, she lost her latest foal, a filly by Twilight Son (GB), so I decided to give her a break for a season. But we have a gorgeous yearling colt by Ulysses, who will be sold at the Goffs UK Premier Sale this autumn. We have also kept her three-year-old filly by Mayson (GB), who is called May Punch (GB) and is trained by Tim Easterby. She won at Ripon last month and we are going up to Scotland tomorrow to see her run at Hamilton. I take a lot of time working out the matings for my mares, I don't believe that you need to spend an awful lot of money and I've never used a stallion from outside Britain as you don't need to. I was attracted to Tasleet because he was tough and sound over several seasons and was the right price for an, as yet, unproven mare. He's bred in not dissimilar lines to Baaeed.”
Tuesday, Ascot, Britain
COVENTRY S.-G2, £150,000, Ascot, 6-14, 2yo, 6fT, 1:13.02, g/f.
1–BRADSELL (GB), 129, c, 2, by Tasleet (GB)
1st Dam: Russian Punch (GB) (SW-Eng), by Archipenko
2nd Dam: Punch Drunk (GB), by Beat Hollow (GB)
3rd Dam: Bebe de Cham (GB), by Tragic Role
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN. (12,000gns Ylg '21 TATSOM; £47,000 2yo '22 GOFTY). O-Victorious Racing Ltd; B-Mrs D O'Brien (GB); T-Archie Watson; J-Hollie Doyle. £88,800. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $117,850. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Persian Force (Ire), 129, c, 2, Mehmas (Ire)–Vida Amorosa (Ire), by Lope de Vega (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE; 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (€75,000 Wlg '20 GOFNOV; €225,000 Ylg '21 GOFOR). O-Amo Racing Ltd; B-Tom Lacy (IRE); T-Richard Hannon. £33,585.
3–Royal Scotsman (GB), 129, c, 2, Gleneagles (Ire)–Enrol (GB), by Pivotal (GB). 1ST BLACK TYPE; 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (125,000gns Ylg '21 TATOCT). O-Mrs Fitri Hay; B-Rabbah Bloodstock Ltd (IRE); T-Paul & Oliver Cole. £16,785.
Margins: 1HF, NK, 2. Odds: 8.00, 3.00, 12.00.
Also Ran: Blackbeard (Ire), Waiting All Night (GB), Rousing Encore (Ire), Age of Kings (Ire), Harry Time (Ire), Lakota Blue (GB), Paddy's Day (Ire), Show Respect (Ire), King's Crown (Ire), Scholarship (Ire), Holguin (GB), Remarkable Force (Ire), Ti Sento (Ire), Late September. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
⭐️ He wasn't dubbed a 'TDN Rising Star' for nothing! Bradsell, by first season sire Tasleet, who stands @ShadwellStud, takes the G2 Coventry Stakes for @HollieDoyle1, @Archie_Watson and Victorious Racing Ltd. pic.twitter.com/9LJJCtHXJG
— TDN (@theTDN) June 14, 2022
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